


Always, Say I Love You

by windandthestars



Category: Storm in the Heartland (2009)
Genre: Community: kink_bingo, Gen, Sensation Play
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-21
Updated: 2012-07-21
Packaged: 2017-11-10 09:26:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/464741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/windandthestars/pseuds/windandthestars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liz’s hugs are soft, as if she’s holding something fragile, flowers or mom’s glass vase.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Always, Say I Love You

Her dad’s hugs are warm, safe, but they remind her of things she would rather forget: nightmares and the sounds of roaring wind and splintering wood. The hugs don’t come very often anymore, she’s learned to keep the nightmares away- hide the photos and the paintings- and he’s stopped sleeping with his bedroom door open so he can listen for her down the hall.

Liz’s hugs are soft, as if she’s holding something fragile, flowers or mom’s glass vase. They smell like coffee and far away places Ellie will never go. There are hints of the farm there too, the smell of hay buried deep in the crease between Liz’s neck and shoulder. There’s space between them always when they hug, except for where Ellie tucks her face in to smell the horses. They smell like mom: warm bodies and summer time.

Matt’s hugs are faint memories, distant and formal. They’ve disappeared now that he’s gone away, but her recollections of them are filled with memories of times when Liz’s eyes laughed and Becky cooed, wobbling on two feet across the wooden floor toward where Ellie had stood on the stairs. The sun had always shined then.

Nora’s hugs are different from the rest. They feel like sunshine, patterns dancing on the floor, reflections. They’re bubbly and warm; they make her smile. There’s something special about Nora’s hugs like a breeze through an open window, rare. Sometimes they’re scary, not scary enough to make her pull away, but intense: a strong breeze can seem a lot like the wind Nora would say when Ellie shuddered. Wind was never good.

Nora’s hugs could be gentle though, calming, a child tugging on the arm of their favorite stuffed bear. Ellie’s never been able to tell what it is, why she loves the sound of Nora’s voice, fall leaves rustling on the porch, as she whispers in Ellie’s hair, arms wrapped around her shoulders. It’s a warm sound like pumpkin spice and wood smoke. 

Nora’s hugs are fierce. They hold her steady, strong. Ellie likes that. It reminds her of before- She misses that, that steadiness, during the days, weeks, when Nora doesn’t visit.

It’s not Nora’s hugs though, that she likes the best but Becky’s. Becky who’s already older than Ellie feels. Her hugs are filled with laughter, giggles, with sleepy smiles and full out grins. They come with paper ladybugs on popsicle sticks and peanut butter sandwiches. They keep secrets but never lie. They tell her it’s ok there’s glitter scattered on the floor or flour in her hair. They tell her that sometimes hugs mean I’m afraid: thunder is scary. Sometimes they mean hide me, I’ve been naughty.

Ellie remembers tiny arms wrapped around her knees and later her waist. They reach higher now, but they’re still the same. They make Ellie feel whole, like someone’s always listening and she loves that, but what she loves about them most is that they always, _always_ say I love you, exactly as you are.

**Author's Note:**

> for kink_bingo: sensation play.


End file.
